SUDAN: UN SUPPORT FOR DPA IMPLEMENTATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001548

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2016
TAGS: PREL KPKO PGOV SOCI US UN AU SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN: UN SUPPORT FOR DPA IMPLEMENTATION

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Despite GNU opposition to UNPKO in Darfur,
the UN is preparing several avenues of support for the DPA,
including transferring resources to the AU and seconding
staff. It also hopes to coordinate other donor DPA support,
such as the two recently arrived UK media advisors. Top
priorities are the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation
process and the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority.
Other important events include the July 18 &non-pledging
conference8 and the anticipated mid-July UN Security Council
meeting. While the legal status of those who signed the
Declaration of Commitment has not yet been settled, the UN
hopes they will be allowed access to the DPA Implementation
Offices. End summary.

Christofides Lays Out UN Support Activities for DPA
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2. (SBU) Pol/Econ Counselor and ARC officers met with UNMIS
Director for Political Affairs Jack Christofides and Senior
Rule of Law Officer Susan Page to brief UNMIS on Embassy
plans to support the AU in DPA implementation, including
standing up the DPA Implementation Offices in Khartoum and El
Fasher. Per Christofides, the UN is not letting the GNU,s
present opposition to a transition to a UN peacekeeping
operation stand in the way of scaling up its activities to
support the DPA. UNMIS views movement on the Darfur-Darfur
Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC) process and identification
of possible members of the Transitional Darfur Regional
Authorities as top priorities, and is mobilizing its
organizational efforts and the force of its good offices to
jumpstart activities in these efforts. At the same time, the
UN is working to solicit the support of the non-signatories
to the DPA.


3. (SBU) Christofides said that much of the UN,s added value
lies in its ability to organize and coordinate donor efforts.
It had therefore assigned its Director of Civil Affairs,
Tesfaye Tadesse, as its point person on the DDDC, who will
now begin to pressure the GNU and the DPA signatories to
focus on dates and a process. The DDDC preparatory committee
needs to be formed and activated as soon as possible; he
added that advice and experience from those involved in the
Afghan Loya Jirga experience would be useful input.

UN Staff to Backstop AU Efforts
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4. (SBU) UNMIS is also in the process of providing the AU
with staffing to flesh out its precariously thin political
section, and has already seconded Primrose Oteng, a mid-level
officer, to AU Darfur Special Representative Ambassador Sam
Ibok,s staff. Senior Rule of Law Officer Page heads the
team working with the AU. Finally, Christofides said the UN
is looking at options via a special provision to allow the AU
to make use of UN assets, though he did not go into further
detail.

UK Media Advisors, Office Space Needs, and UN DPA Road Show
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5. (SBU) Meanwhile, two UK-provided media advisors arrived in
Sudan on March 25 and are currently in El Fasher holding
meetings with AMIS. The UK and Dutch national media advisors
plan to spend two weeks in-country developing a strategic
communications plan for the AU in support of the DPA before
returning to the UK to brief out and receive approval.
Long-term plans are for the advisors to work under the AU,
most likely out of the USG-funded DPA Implementation
Offices/Peace Secretariats in Khartoum and El Fasher, and
provide the mission with a much needed public diplomacy
capacity, publicize the DPA, and combat widespread
misconceptions of its content. The UN supports allowing
those who signed the Declaration of Commitment to also
benefit from use of these facilities; he noted the Darfur
Joint Assessment Mission is also interested in office space.
(Note: UNMIS has launched its own &internal road show8 for
19 of its field offices in order to brief its own staff on
the DPA so that they understood it properly themselves. This
includes "eroding negative information." End note.)

UN Underscores Two Upcoming Events
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6. (SBU) Christofides underscored the importance of two
upcoming events: 1) the July 18 meeting that will take place
in Brussels, which he said would involve a request for $400
million in support for three baskets ) economic, security,
and political; and 2) an anticipated mid-July UN Security

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Council meeting, which he said would outline measures to take
to strengthen AMIS in the absence of authority to implement a
UN peacekeeping operation.

Comment
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7. (SBU) The Embassy and ARC plan to coordinate closely with
UNMIS, its seconded staff at the AU, and the UK advisors in
order to assure as much coverage and as little overlap as
possible. Christofides felt that other nations and
organizations were also staffing up and planning to offer
additional support, which the UN hoped to coordinate and
track via a matrix. These are early positive signs that the
UN will be able to bolster AU efforts on the political track,
something the AU needs.
HUME